RUHtf Gem: Part 1 of 4 - Urgh! A Music War

Alright rare music fans...this is a treat you may never hear (or at least own), and may never see (through the usual retail channels). I had a bar mitzvah gift certificate (so I was 13) for the local music shop (remember those?) This actually was a shop that sold instruments, and stocked a few bins of albums. I took guitar lessons from this shop. I had the same instructor that Tom Dumont (later of No Doubt) had. I was Tom's guitar partner in guitar class and was impressed with his advanced skills on guitar. He recommended the instructor. 4 sessions later, I threw in the towel learning only the opening bars to "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin.

Anyhow...like I said, I had a gift certificate for the music store (so I was 13 at the time). I had been a "classic rock" guy, sometimes "top 40" because that was all I knew. I had been introduced to punk through my friend Magid in English class (the teacher thought him, Scott, and I were listening to lessons on the class tape payer/headphones...little did she know we were listening to Adam & The Ants (yes....Adam was considered "punk"), Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Germs, and Sex Pistols (come to think of it, he was going to sell me a "Great Rock N' Roll Swindle" vinyl, but I passed it up) on tapes his older "punker" brother made us). Also, my brother used to turn me on to music, and he had a lot of new vinyl, like The Clash, Devo, and Oingo Boingo. Being the younger brother, I was always trying to "one up" him. My passion for music, and learning new music, began. I started reading all the music magazines learning everything about everything. While Rolling Stone was talking about this "scary" new punk movement (treating it like anti-music), Creem was introducing us to all the bands, while Circus just stuck to the hair bands. BAM was also a good source for music information, though they also had a lot of hair bands (they used to have an ad for Motley Crue's first, independent, album...and used to tout how it sold 5,000 copies! 6,000! 7,000!....)

So...remember the gift certificate? Well, I used it to buy "Urgh! a Music War". I knew some of the "marquee" bands (I was friends with this girl that introduced me to the Police in class, much like Magid turned me on to punk, and I knew Boingo, X, Wall Of Voodoo, and Devo). I figured, I knew enough of the bands that I assumed the ones I didn't know would soon become favorites.

Well...as it turned out, the album became a favorite of mine. I enjoyed having something that not many people knew about. There was a movie made, and it was released on video. But, according to wikipedia, it never will be released on DVD because the electronic rights are tied up in the failed Selectavision format.

The CD also has been lost in rights nightmare hell.

There is a GREAT Urgh! fan website here.
A DVD and CD are offered (of course, of questionable legality). Over the next four days, i'll play the 4 "sides" of the album...or at least what made it digitally.

Police: Driven To Tears


Wall Of Voodoo: Back In Flesh


OMD: Enola Gay


Oingo Boingo: Ain't This The Life


XTC: Respectable Street